A mom with kids is always going to have things to plan...dentist appointments, doctor appointments, birthday parties, church events, etc. A homeschooling mom will also have lots of things to plan: lesson plans, assignments, and often, as we did, will co-op activities as well. We called ours "Friday School" and we met 3 Fridays every month.
Those things only last so long. Our Friday school close after their first two years of high school. They began driving and became more independent (which is the goal, right?). After graduation, I was writing very little in my planner that had to do with my guys. I loved planning as much as always but now what?
I resisted using my planner for tracking housework or daily habits as I saw that as unnecessary for me. I realized that I didn't track a lot of things because I actually have a pretty good memory, but I started to rethink things when I realized I still wanted to use my planning system. With a little research, you too might begin to realize that there are tons of things you can use your planner for that don't necessarily include actual plans.
Here's a list of things that I still track in my planner, and the things that are new to me and I want to experiment with them.
Books - more time to myself = more times to read. I will make a list of the top 10 books I want to read (ten as not to overwhelm), and check them off as I read each one.
Movies - this will be a running list of movies I've heard about that I want to check out.
Medication - the medications of a transplant patient are many! I've kept a list of all my meds in my planner for years, because inevitably a nurse is going to ask me what meds am I taking and the list is too long and painful to give out one by one! <LOL!> I keep extra copies and just pop one out and give it to the nurse. (They appreciate it, too!)
Weekly Menu - we shop every week so a system must be in place so I don't go crazy. I have menu blank, a frequently used items list (so I don't forget things not on menu), and a grocery list (usually created to match the aisles in my grocery store).
Weight Loss - I am thinking about making a whole section for this. Tracking healthy habits, food journals, rewards, measurements, etc. will help me be more successful. I use My Fitness Pal for tracking food/calories and will probably continue.
Wish Lists - lists not just for things I want for my birthday and Christmas, but also wish lists for remodeling (pain, new drapes, repair lamp shade), thrifting (pillows for the deck chairs, plates for my wall collection), vacation ideas...literally lists for anything you want to remember and revisit.
Budgeting
Memory keeping (special conversations, quotes from family to remember, etc.)
Information on pets
Goals
Daily Index
There are so, so many more things that you can do in your planner. I think my problem is that I have had trouble letting go how things used to be. Moving from homeschooling for 13 years to being an almost empty nester can be difficult. I'm taking this opportunity to recreate my planner and make it into what would serve me best now.
Even though I have not kept the same blog schedule as I have in previous years, I am not ready to let go of my domain just yet. So, even though I can't make promises about the frequency of my blogging, you can be sure that you will see some more posts about planners, as well as the other things going on in my life. If you're still around after all my changes over the years, I thank you!
29 years ago, my (now) husband and I had been dating 2½ months and we were about to travel to Atlanta, GA where I was going to meet his mom for the first time. Since it was his birthday, I asked him what he wanted and he had told me he wanted snow. I was thinking "now?!" No way that was possible, but I told him "no problem" anyway. The morning we left there we snow flurries, so we both thought that was pretty cool. That was 1993, and when we woke up the next morning, Atlanta (and most of the SE) was covered in snow. That's what they called "the storm of the century". It's a fun memory for us, and tomorrow we are supposed to wake up to a couple of inches of snow.
The threat of snow cancelled plans to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday on Saturday, so we moved it to Sunday. That's how quick the bad weather is going to move out. Our high today is 70, 36 on Saturday and back up to 55 on Sunday. My sinus' are going to go crazy.
And let's not forget about the time change! I know it's rough for lots of people, but I personally love it. I am a different person when I have sunlight till after 7pm! I hope you all have plenty of adventures yourself this weekend!